Circular-fashioning knitting-machine.



E. J. FRANGK.

UIRGULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE. PPLIGATION FILED AUG. 27, 1906, RENEWED OCT. 5, 1910.

991,711. Patented May 9,1911.

8 SHEETSSHEBT l.

E. J. PRANUK. CIRCULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2'7. 1906. RENEWED OCT 5.1910.

,71 1. & Patented May 9, 1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. J. PRANOK. CIRCULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION nun AUG.27, I906. RENEWED 001a. 1910.

Patented May 9, 1911.

8 SHEETSSHEET 3.

E. J. PRANOK.

\ CIRCULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27. 1900. RENEWED OCT.

atented May 9, 1911.

8 SgEETS-SHBET 4.

E. J. FRANOK. CIRCULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG, 27, 1906. RENEWED OCT. 5, 1910.

Patented May 9, 1911 8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

1 2mm. W a

E J. FRANGK.

FASHIONIBIG KNITTING MAGHENE.

CIRCULAR E101! EILEIIAUG.ZT,19OG. RENEWED 0015,1910

Patented May 9, 1911.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 7 B. J. FRANGK. CIRCULAR FASHIONING KNITTING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27, 1906. RENEWED OCT. 5, 1910.

Patented May 9, 1911.

8 SHBETS-SHEET 8.

:YIUNITEDJ STATES PATENT O F CE:

EMIL J'. FRANCE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCULAR-FASHIONING KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Iatentd nlay 9, 1911, I

Application tiled August 27, 1906, Serial No. 332,150. Renewed October 5, 1910. Serial No. 535,519.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, EMIL J. FRANCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Circalair-Fashioning Knitting-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

lhe principal object of-the present invention is toprovide a circular knitting inachine whichwill not only automatically shape the legs of seamless stockings in the course of their ii'ianufac-ture, but also automatically make seamless heels and toes.

Another object of the invention is to provide for such a machine a comparatively simple andvery reliable construction and arrangement of parts.

,Fig. 4., Fig.'13,

partly in section showing mechanism for ac- To theseand other ends the invention comprises the improvements to bepresently described in connection with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and finally claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1, is a front elevational view of a machine embodying features of the invention. Fig. 2. is a similar view of the right-hand end of the machine, having reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 3. is a top or plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a transverse sectional View taken through the needle cylinder and drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 5, is a plan view part] in section taken on the line 5-5 oi. Fig. 4.

Fig. 6. is a transverse sectional view taken on th-: line 6---(i of Fig. 3, looking toward the back of the machineand looking toward the front of it. Fig. 8, is a sectional View illustrating one of the pawls shown in Fig.

Fig. 9, isan enlarged edge view of one of the cams shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 10, is aface view of ratchet wheels shown in Fig. 5..

Fig. 11, is a top or plan view. with parts broken away and showing the same pawl as shown in Fig. 8, together with some of its accessories. Fig. 12,-isatop or plan-view of a cam shown at the upper right-hand part of IS an elevational view tuating.:the arts to make heels and toes. Fig. 14,;is a rent elevational view of mechanism for changing the stitch height while inakingthe hcels and toes and 15-21, are detail-views hereinafter referred to.

. 'llhere'arc four legs 1, on top of which is a the'brace 2, and carry the bed plate 4. On

top of the bed plate a, and centrally thereof and toward the front is arranged a fixed needle cylinder 5.

58, is a ring secured to the top of the circle of needles. Itis provided with notches for the web holders 59. Arrangedaround the needle cylinder near the top thereof and in fixed position, is a conical or inclined circular bed (I, having a dependin apron (l, which is provided with needle grooves inclined to the needle grooves of the cylinder 5. i

Z), are additional or calf needles arranged in the inclined grooves and which are put into action with and taken out of action in respect to the main needles, so as to shape the leg of the stocking.

The lied u, is carried by a ring 0, fixed tothe cylinder 5. This conical bed a, constitutes a way upon which the cam carrier 7, rotates. v

523, a ring carried by an arm 54, risin from the ring 7. This ring has a threa guide 55, and it also holds the latches against accidental closing. This i ing also carries a guard 56, for the latches of the calf needles. This cam carrier 7 is provided with tiidi cains d, and (1'; one, (Z, is a cam for making the calfneedles b. knit, and 'the other 1!, Fig. 15 is a cam called auxiliary or e'ast-ott cam for throwing the calf needles down so that they may be'put out of action and throw of the stitches. Thereis no thread carrier opposite the earn (1, so 1 .at when it permits the needles to be put, out of action they do not secure a thread. This earn :33; comes into use when the widepart of a stocking is completed. These two coins (Z,

and. (Z", do not work directly on the needles b, but on jacks b, which are arranged on top of the needles b, and in the same grooves.

The main needles are not operatediipon directly by their cam, butare operated upon through the intervention of jacks e, which 'needle cylinder and arranged inside of the t, is not the same engage a pinion F, which meshes with the of washers eachof which has two teeth, butthe lengthfof the face of the leading tooth for instance, this length is thesame on the two'. middle washers and is greater on the have been made. The drumthen turn until it comes middle washers or disks pinch the place wi at intervals. The deep successive washers toward the respective ends. Ealch of these teetht, pushes one of the calf needle pressers t, which are arranged in grooves in a bed it", carried by a bracket from-the bed 4., inward to release a calf needle fromits jack, and all of the calf needles are thus held by the pressers t engaging offsets t in such position that the butts are clear 0 toe, heel and ankle parts are being made,

then these teeth at, on the two middle washers pass by their pressers t and the latter get in between the teeth and remain thus for one-revolution of the ring 7. The greater length of faces of the leading teeth of the other washers holds the corresponding pressers in so as to keep the corresponding needles out of action. See Figs; 18,19 and 20. The drum then moves until the teeth 23, on the needles out and then rests for three or four courses, then the teeth clearthe pressers entirely and the drum stands still until several courses s again andthe pressers tfieorresponding to the two disks or washers next on opposite sides are, after an interval released from the comparativley long leading teeth t, and the described 0 eration is repeated, and this takes the successive disks.

The washers and disks are. clamped to form the drum 22 between the ratchet wheel 25, and the part T which has a single tooth. The pawl23 works the drum 22 by engaging the wheel 25. 24,is'a ratchet wheel also engaged by the pawl 23 and it is loose on the shaft 21. 24, has deep cuts, is large and is loose and the pawl simplyturns it around to'a low tooth and then the pawl engages 25 and turns it so as to give the drum a rest motion and this 'is repeated uts occur in pairs so that'25 is -driven twq teeth and 'then let rest. teeth. The wheel 25, has teeth so that it may be driven by the pawl audit is driven to turn the drum. ,This pawl 23, is carried by an arm I), worked by the rod 11 of an eccentric 26, on the shaft 16. There is on e shaft. 21, a ratchet wheel 27, Fig. 9, which is part of the cam wheel g, which been described.

oneach pair of washerst the jacks 6 while the ranged teeth;

The wheel 25, has a pair of high.

works the clutch L, that makes the machine run continuoiisly or reciprocatingly as has This wheel 27, is started by a lug on the right (Fig. 5) of the pattern chain 28, so that the patternchain starts the wheel and gets its pawl 2), out of the space '0 into work on the teeth Fig. 6.

The pawl v", works-with a long stroke, butshield c, Fig. 2 holds itclear of the teeth except at the end of its stroke. However,

there is ahigh tooth a F ig- 6 which extends above the'shield so that it. receives a long push, and this long clutches properly.

The sprocket wheel for the pattern chain is attached to the'sleeve which has on ita ratchet wheel 29 Fig. 21. There is a pawl arm 30, which carries the pawls 'v and '0 that work the wheels 29 and 27. v, is also provided with a shield made in one piece with the shield 22. This arm 30, has alink 2), that goes'down to a crank arm on the quadrant 18. There is a rock shaft m that goes through and is carried by the drum and it is provided at one end with an arm of, arranged under the pawl 23, that works wheels 24, and 25, and at theother end with an arm- #0 that has on its face a cam lug.=, A spring on shaft .2, tends to turn it for causing the arm .22, to lug on the leftof the pattern chain 28, engages the canning on arm at, and turns the shaft into position for causin the arm a, to permit the'pawl 23, to work its ratchet wheel. I i

There are strippers f and 7, which work around on the bed as has been stated and are movable around .the central head and their cams y, (Fig. 5), engage the pressers f, and push them in singly. These strippers are worked by pawls of which there are four, two y and Q for each stripper, one to run it one way other.

push shifts the Each stripper has oppositely" arof which the coarse teeth are above the fine tecth. The pawl y, takes the upper or coarse teeth and the and 3 I takes the fine teeth.

needles are put out by the ring 9, and the pawls y ,"drive the strippers toward the top" of Fig. 5cngaging for this purpose the fine teeth oneat a. time. The operation of ring 9, is automatic and is parts 10, ll, 12, 13, g and cam 9 on ratchet wheel 27 as has been described. The shield 0 9*} permits these pawls to operate only at the'ends of their strokes. During this, the springs y, lie to one side of the pitots of the pawls y, and hold them out of action.

At the end of the narrowing, ins 1 strike 1 the tails; of the pawls y? an throw them into action. The pawl's then engage the coarse teeth, oneat a time, and return the strippers. However, the pawls y remainin action so that the strippers are not returnedlift the pawl 23. 'A95 and one to run it the In narrowing alf the accomplished through inward the right so f, engiigement xvi .dl' 1 0;- bl ingsf'the pin '72,, Fig). '2, into rocate the ring The 1 fin thel -trgivetI.

ipo'sfilt'idn'fi-l lst described, it being understood that fth'e ord'er reversed in that; the high,

the-1;qh-zihu'fgitiued'irythcfmanner which has j 'b cen; described -fnjconnecfion' with the few 'in-itia-ljcolix ses,.-Dnring this -time the pawl 5. pulley [0: The the Spur. wheel fpi'ej rjota ted-in pdsitiop thatl it operatesjupon'thetap;

s antler-described. -Theresult,- (if this .;th'at-f v, theft oefashione d; 'ofjthe part 27,-shown clined needles are brought into action by the rotation of the drum -22, the arm m,-is carried by the drum clear of the pawl 23, so that the pawl 23 continues to turn the drum until-it has made substantially a revolution whereupon the arm 01: again lifts the pawl out and the drum remains at rest while the widest portion above the'cal ;=which may be called the knee portion, i being made. \Vhen the stocking is sufliciently long, a

lug on the left-hand side of the pattern its chain again operates to turn the part a, and permit the pawl to bring the drum to its initial position in which the pressers t (Fig. 6) are in range of the humps t, thus detaching the inclined needles b from the jacks b Prior to the pressing in of the pressers 2i", the cam (5, has passed by all the butts z" of the inclined needles Z). Before the cam d reaches the butts'z", it has been elevated through the action of the rod 2', and its accessories, which rod 21, is lifted by the lug (Fig. 6). When the cam d, in elevated position comes to the butts i, it pushes the needles Z2, down, throwing ofl their stitches so that their humps t, are in range of and are pressed by the pressersft thus the needles Z), are disengaged from their jacks and remain out of action while the few courses are made which intervene from one stocking to the next.

Immediately after the cam d in elevated position has passed the butts a", it is returned to its lower osition because the high part 52 has passed thelever 51 and thus lowers the rod 2'. The inner sleeve 43 serves to permit the work to pass down through the cylinder without contact with the intermediate rotating sleeve 42. At 75, the needles are oil-set so as to allow the hooks 76, at theiulower ends to be pushed clear of the hooks in the jacks and the humps or off-sets 77, in the needlesafi'ord the pressers 1, an opportunity to detach the needles from the jacks even though the pressers may operate a little out-of time, thus jamming is obvi-. ated. The ends of the pressers are slightly rounded and thus by engaging the humps they serve to hold the needles against dropping.

Certain features of the machine described herein constitute the subject-matter of my application for patent, serially numbered 2|").371.

It may be desirable to attempt to summarize the foregoing specification and description tothe patternmechanism and this accordingly will be done.

Of course the only pattern that the machine is concerned with is'the shaping of the tube and it may be said that in operation there is first knit a short tube of relatively small diameter, then the toe is knit, then the foot part which is a tube'of small diameter, then the hee part, then the leg or chain continues Fig. 5, again ope]:

large ment with their jacks andtherefore outof action, by the means and instrumentalities which have been heretofore described. Under these circumstances the main needles are knitting the small tube, being operated by the revolution of the cam 6 while the drum is standing still as has been stated, the pattern chain is being driven and is advancing as has been described. The toe is then made and during this operation the drum still stands still, .but alug on the right-hand edge of the advancing pattern chain, Fig. 5, sets inmotion a ratchet wheel 27, which is therefore driven by its pawl and this ratchet wheel 27 sets in motion the ring 9, which throws half the/main needles out of action and also-the strippers, which by first throwing the needles out of and then into action, narrows and widens for the toe, all of which has been in detail described above. After the completion of the toe the foot part is made and when this is to be done the ratchet wheel 27, has come to rest, tlie= drum remains at rest and the main needles form a tube under the action of the cam 6. Upon the completion of this foot portion the heel is to be made and to do this another lug on the right-hand side of the pattern chain shown in Fi and causes the parts to narrow and widen'to make the heel. The parts havebee'n described above and also their manner of operation in effecting 1 his work. To make the ankle part, the drum stands still, the pattern to move and a tube of roletively small diameter is made in the manner as has been described. TheneXt'thi is to make the calf or widened portion. %01 this purpose a lug on the left-hand side of the pattern chain collides with the arm X and turns the rock shaft X, thereby permitting a pawl, which has already been described, to come into play and rotate the drum. In consequence ofthis rotation the additional or calf needles b,are brought into action in the manner that has been described 5, again starts up the' ratchet wheel 27,'w ich continues in motion and by the means which have been referredv to, so that they take part along with the cylinder needles and fabricate the'tubeof larger diameter. Itmay lie-remarked that while this wide tube is being knit the drum is again standing still and when this wide tube is long enough, another lug in the lefthand side of the: pattern cha n, shown in ates the rocker arm which operates the lving pawl .01. the in 'and a progressively increasing number.- of needles 'ofthe other setto gradually widen said tubular, seamless web, and means for simultaneously rendering inoperative the needles thusprogressivel introduced.

' 12, The combinationo a needle cylinder and itsneedle's, jacks detachably connected with'the needles, a knitting canr for operating the jacks, strippers for disconnecting 10 the gacks and certain of the needles, a part ring for disconnecting certain of the needles and jacks, an inclined needle bed provided with needles and a knitting cam and jacks detachably connected with the needles, means for revolving the knitting cam and for oscillating it, devices for actuating the strippers, pressers for disconnecting the jacks and needles of the inclined bed, a controller shaft provided with controlling 2o mechanism including a cam wheel and a pat, tern chain, and a drum having high and low parts for operating the last mentioned press: ers substantially as described.

' 13. The combination of an inclined needle 2; bed provided with jacksand needles detach abl hooked together, a drum consisting of dis *5 each having a pair of teeth whereof .the leading tooth in each pair is'in aline-- ment and whereof the leading teeth. increase drum toward the ends, and pressers oper-- atively arranged in respect to the disks for unhooking the needles, substantially as described. T V

let. The combination offan inclined needle bed provided with jacks and needles detachably hooked together, a drum' rovided withteeth arranged circumferential y insets and whereof the leading tooth in each set is in 40 alincment and whereof the leading-teeth in- -'creasc in length of face from the center of the drum toward the ends, and pressers operatively arranged in respect to the disks for unlocking the needles substantially as dea scribed.

botions offset and'providcd with outwardly ar- I ranged hooks, substantially as described.

16. In a knitting machine the combination of needles having bumps and pressers arranged at right angles with the needles and -two directions, substantially as described.

17''. The combination of .a thread guide structure a needle cylinder provided with a way for. a cam ring and'with an inclined needle bed and needles, jacks for the needles, and a cam ring provided with a knitting .cam and with a second movablecam for positionin the needles clear ofthe thread of the gui e, substantially as described. V

. 18. The combination of needles, jacks de tachabl'y-connected withthe needles, means for actuating the jacks, pressers for detaching the needles ,and a cam drum adapted to actuate the pressers and consisting of a shaft having a central collar and cam disks arranged on op osite sides of the collar, substantially as escribed.

' 19.' The. combination of a table, a knitting cylinder arranged at the front of the table and provided; with a rearwardly ex tending inclined needle bed having needles, and extending partway of thecylinder a horizontal controller shaft arranged at the rear of the table, and mechanism on the controller shaft for throwing said needles out of action, substantially as described.

30 in length of face from the center of the 20. In aknitting machine the combination of the needles which increase the diameter of the tube and extend part way around the machine, a cam ring adapted to operate said needles to make them knit and provided with an auxiliarymovablecam, and means for shifting the last mentioned cam when clear of the needles, substantially as described.

21. In a knitting machine the combination of the needles which; increase the diameter of the tube and extend part way around the machine, a cam ring provided with a knitting cam adapted to makesaid needles knit and with an auxiliary cam adapted to make said needles cast off stitches, said cams being spaced apart, and a thread carrier adjacent said knitting cam, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. i

EMIL J.' FRANCK.

In presence of- WM. J. JACKSON, FRANK E. FRENCH. 

